


Hakoda is TIRED

by korben600



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Crack, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Hakoda (Avatar) is a Good Parent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:15:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25614946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/korben600/pseuds/korben600
Summary: Okay, at some point, Sokka and Katara have to tell their dad what they did on their adventures, right?Only, instead of being hyped up for them, I have a feeling that Hakoda would view their stalkers, crushes, kidnappings, international ecoterrorism, and constant threats on their lives, a LITTLE differently than they would.So, this is the story of how Hakoda debriefs his children and realizes that, while they saved the world, he probably should have NEVER left his two little chaos gremlins alone at the south pole.
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar)
Comments: 21
Kudos: 208





	Hakoda is TIRED

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Pickledragon and Ship-Ambrosia for taking a look at this before I posted it! 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy the story!

Hakoda was many things. Former Combat Commander of the Combined Southern Water Tribe Offensive by martial prowess, Chief of The Southwestern Tribe of the South Pole by birthright, Head Chieftain of the Southern Water Federation by Election, and he was probably several other things similarly involving the words “South”, “Water”, and “Tribe” mixed in there somewhere.

But the one title he held above all others, and cherished most closely, didn’t have any of those terms involved, yet somehow gave him the most pride when he heard it. 

“DAD!” Sokka cried from the door of the igloo, rushing forward and crushing his father in a hug before he could even pull off his snow gear. 

His sister soon followed, with less vocal happiness, but with a hug twice as tight, and Hakoda just breathed silently, taking in the presence of the two most important people in his life. 

Distantly, he realized that they were dragging his upper body downward, and his back tensed. The last time he’d _really_ seen them, not in battle, or in passing, they’d been small enough that he could boast about carrying them both on his shoulders. 

Now…

They were taller, that much was obvious, and though he could take solace in the fact that they were still shorter than him, the only thing keeping them from reaching his height were a few growth spurts. Distantly, he made peace with the fact that Sokka would soon be leaning over to give _him_ hugs, and mentally prepared for the fact that the second that occurred, neither was _ever_ going to let him forget it. 

But while he could make peace with his children growing up, there were other things he couldn’t let go of as easily as a height difference. 

Something in the way they held him had his gaze wander downwards. Soon, Hakoda’s eyes traced his children’s arms, spying jagged white scars, and old burn marks long since healed. Under their pockmarked skin was battle tested muscle, on _both_ of his children. 

Their father sighed, and hugged them a little tighter. 

He was _never_ letting go of them again.

* * *

After the tearful embrace, their family had come together for a traditional Water Tribe meal. Seal jerky, sea prunes, the works, all cooked by his mother. He, Katara, and Sokka had all insisted on helping prep the meal, but the instant Katara and Sokka called her “Gran Gran” she had firmly shut the idea down, something about “The ones fighting deserve to be cooked for.” 

Something in her tone niggled in the back of her son’s brain, but the smell of freshly cooked sea prunes quickly caused him to lose his higher faculties. Soon, all three returning members of the Water Tribe were tearing into the food with reckless abandon.

About halfway through the meal, when they’d stopped shoving food into their mouths like they’d been starved to death, small talk began to flow back and forth.

Gran Gran would tell a small anecdote of how things were back home. 

“Seriously? I can excuse eating yellow snow _once_ , but _twice_ -” “You can excuse eating yellow snow?” 

Hakoda would relay a war story in response, one of the quieter, less dangerous ones. 

“So then I told them we’d call it the…’Stink and Sink’” “HA! That’s amazing, Hakoda!” “ _SEE_ , Gran Gran understands Dad’s genius, why can’t you, _Katara_ ?” “I’m just saying, maybe we shouldn’t give such a cute nickname to a _surface mine_.” 

And his kids would studiously stay silent before moving on. 

Though she vehemently denied it, Gran Gran was just as talkative as anyone else in the family when she got a few good sea prunes in her, and hated a vacuum in conversation as much as anyone, so she’d paper over the awkward silence by ladeling more food onto their plates and moving on. 

Thus, to restart the flow of conversation, Gran Gran would tell another entertaining anecdote. 

“That was a _military installation_ , Gran Gran!” “Well, as the Avatar noted when he was here, your military installation made an _excellent_ cathole.” 

Hakoda would relay another entertaining war story. 

“Then Bato comes up on deck, and starts running around trying to do the rigging, without noticing his _pants are gone_.” “Oh poor Bato.” “Hey Katara, you think you’d be powered up by that ‘full moon’?” “Shut up Sokka…” Katara said, giving him a playful punch through her giggles. 

...and then his kids would stay awkwardly silent when it was their turn to speak. 

By this point, Gran Gran had just about run out of entertaining anecdotes, and was beginning to tell the...less nice stories. 

“This summer season was fairly hard. The girls did an admirable job though, without you. Got a good batch of tiger seals. Got a good six of them.” “...Mom, don’t we normally get over a dozen?” “Yeah, and when _we_ were there, we got at least nine every summer.” “...it’s been a hard year without you all.” 

As for Hakoda, he was dipping into stories that were perhaps _too_ entertaining. 

“So I said to Bato, ‘I don’t need to be an earthbender to see that she’s getting _you_ hard’.” “ _Hakoda_ !” “ _Dad_!” 

Eventually, they settled into an awkward silence, without even large plates of food to distract them, and Hakoda decided to ask point blank what had been on his mind for a while. 

“Sokka, Katara, what’d you guys get up to while you were gone?” 

It should be noted that while Hakoda tried his best to be a _good_ father, he had been gone for the last two years of his kids’ lives, one of which had involved them travelling the world. They’d changed in innumerable ways, growing stronger and more amazing in his absence.

But evidently, _neither_ of them had learned how to lie. Or, for that matter, even learned the art of _not looking guilty_ when they were lying. 

“Oh, we didn’t really do much.” “Yep, quiet travels all the way through.” 

Hakoda raised an eyebrow, and he could feel his mother’s eyes narrowing. 

“ _Really?_ Come on, you travelled with the _Avatar_ , you had to have _some_ good stories.” 

“Nope!” Sokka said as his voice cracked, and Katara nodded. “Nothing of interest happened on our adventures _at all_.” His daughter finished, refusing to look him in the eyes. 

Her father’s eyes narrowed identically to Gran Gran’s. As Kanna got up and began to grab plates, he got up to help, but she shook his head at him firmly, before her eyes flickered to his children.

The last time his mother had done that, Hakoda had to break the news to his children that he was leaving the South Pole to fight the Fire Nation. Dimly, a sense of concern began creeping up his spine as he wondered what his mother knew that he didn’t. 

Just as Gran Gran was about to leave with the dishes to the kitchen, she called out. 

“Oh, if your travels were so uneventful, Katara, why don’t you talk about the _Fire Nation booby trap_ you and Aang set off right before you left?” 

Hakoda froze. 

Ah. _That_ was what Gran Gran knew. Wait, before they left-“You two explored the haunted Fire Nation ship!?!” Hakoda growled, glaring at his children.

“HEY! Don’t look at me, that was _all_ Katara!” Sokka said, throwing his sister under the bus and backing it over her. 

“Oh, don’t you _dare_ act like you were the voice of reason, you’re the one who tried to fight an _entire_ Fire Nation ship, _alone_!” She said, scowling at her older sibling. 

“You... _what?_ ” Hakoda said, breaking out the tone of disappointment and annoyance he thought they’d grown out of years ago. 

“Uhh….” “Uhh…” 

Their father gently pinched the bridge of his nose. This whole conversation was starting to stink like one of his mines.

* * *

It took prodding,

* * *

“I’m telling you, we were never in danger-” “Do you want me to bring Gran Gran in here?” “-we were in a _little_ danger.”

* * *

Pleading,

* * *

“Guys, do you not trust me?” “No, we do-” “Then just tell me what happened.”

* * *

And promising,

* * *

“I promise not to be mad.” “...can we get that in writing?” “...I rescind my promise of not being mad.” “Aw come on!”

* * *

But finally, Hakoda managed to wrangle something resembling the truth out of his children. 

He suspected he was going to regret that.

* * *

“So you’re telling me she broke an entire iceberg?” “Yes.” “He was being a misogynistic _douchebag!_ ” Katara yelled, and a distant sound like cracking ice echoed underneath them. “...an _entire_ iceberg?” He whispered to his son, eyes not leaving Katara as she looked around worriedly. “Yep.” Sokka continued. “This is gonna be a recurring theme.” “HEY! I HEARD THAT!” 

Another sound like cracking ice echoed through the city, and nearby tiger-seals fled in droves.

* * *

Not every part of the story was bad.

* * *

“You guys stopped riding penguins? But you loved penguin sledding.” Katara and Sokka looked away almost guiltily at their father’s sad face.

* * *

But…

* * *

“So you’re telling me, you went into a booby trapped ship, all because Aang said ‘If you want to be a bender, you have to take risks’?” “That’s not _quite_ what-” “Yep!” 

“...I’m not sure I like this boy.” “Goddammit Sokka…” Katara said, elbowing her sibling with a pitiful groan that was a _little_ too dramatic to just be about some random Fire Nation booby trap, but Hakoda had other things on his mind.

* * *

At times, Gran Gran popped in to add context that wasn’t there.

* * *

“So then Aang flew off to lead the Fire Nation away-” “As I recall, Katara, there was something else that occurred.” his mother interrupted. 

“Gran Gran…” Katara muttered in warning. 

“ _As I recall_ ,” Gran Gran continued, unabated. “You _begged_ us to go with that young boy, threatening to run from home if we didn’t let you go ourselves.” 

“Well... _maybe…_ ” Katara said, reddening. 

“Didn’t you only know him for a _day_ at this point?” Hakoda asked, trying to parse the timeline. 

“Yes.” “Shut _up,_ Sokka.”

* * *

There were parts of the story they disagreed on.

* * *

“So he set off a Fire Nation distress flare?” “Accidentally, Dad.” Katara pleaded. 

“Not that we _knew_ that,” Sokka added unhelpfully, to his sister’s glare. 

“...I would have called him a spy.” Hakoda said, shrugging. 

“HA! I WAS RIGHT!!!” “He wasn’t a _spy_ , shut _up_ Sokka!”

* * *

There were parts that were a bit confusing.

* * *

“So...he attacked us. The Fire Nation raided us.” Hakoda said with a growing feeling of horror.

“Well...yes, but it wasn’t _that_ bad of an attack.” “And he wasn’t technically Fire Nation at the time-” 

“What do you mean _‘technically’_?”

* * *

There were parts that needed clarification.

* * *

“Really more of a scare tactic, he only threatened Gran Gran _once-_ ” 

“He threatened my _mother?!?!_ Kids, you need to _lead_ with this kind of thing!” Hakoda said as he got up and bolted to where she was dutifully washing the dishes.

* * *

And there were parts that needed context.

* * *

“Mom, are you okay? “From what?” “The raid? Where a firebender threatened you?” “OH, you mean _Zuko_! That was just a scare tactic, poor boy is much nicer once you get to know him.” 

Hakoda froze. He knew that name. 

“...did you say ‘Zuko’? As in-” “Firelord Zuko.” Sokka interrupted sheepishly as he and his sister walked into the kitchen. 

“...the Firelord Zuko who is currently _visiting_ the Southern Water Tribe less than a block from here.” Hakoda said faintly.

“...yeah.” “Same guy, much nicer once you know him better.” 

Hakoda was in a bit of a daze from the copious amounts of food and conflicting news, so he gently began walking to the door, pushing his family aside. “...Kids, stay here, I need to go apply a club to someone’s head.”

“DAD NO!” “DON’T DO IT, WE JUST GOT HIS SELF ESTEEM BACK!”

* * *

After being talked down from second degree assault (as well as an international incident), and having it repeatedly reiterated that _Yes, he has changed,_ as well as _YES WE’RE SURE_ , Hakoda finally settled down enough for them to continue the story. 

Fortunately, there really wasn’t all that much to tell.

* * *

“So _you_ froze three people? With no training?” “They survived.” “...that was not what I asked, but okay.” “Dad, I’m going to tell you now, if you stop to ask that every time she freezes someone, we’re going to be here for a LONG time.” “HEY!”

* * *

That and a small definition...

* * *

“So what is this ‘Avatar state’?” “Think PTSD flashback mixed with ungodly amounts of bending power.” “...o-k.”

* * *

But barring that, the story ended there...or so he thought.

* * *

“And...that’s the end of the story.” Katara said quickly.

“Yep! Wild ride, huh dad?” Sokka added. 

“Sure is.” Hakoda said, chuckling. 

The two looked at each other with expressions of relief. “Speaking of, we should probably go to sleep-” 

“Of course.” their father said, nodding, and giving them a hug, before pulling back to look at them. “Been a long day. Still, I’m sure you’re used to it. I can’t believe your trip to the North Pole was so wild.” They shrugged sheepishly. 

Hakoda finally continued, about to let them go. “Seriously, though, you must have been chasing that Fire Nation ship for _weeks_ for that story to have taken you all the way to the North Pole.”

His kids froze slightly in fear, and suddenly he heard the sound of raucous laughter coming from the kitchen, before his mother stumbled out of the kitchen, clutching her gut as she bowled over, howling. 

“HAHAAHAHAHAHAhahaha…haven’t laughed like that in a _while_ , oh spirits, oh that stings, heh…” 

“Mom?” He asked, confused. 

“Hakoda, that wasn’t the story of them _reaching_ the North Pole.” She wheezed out, as she held onto a wall for support. “That was the story of them _leaving the South Pole_.”

“...what?” He asked, cogs turning in his head. 

“Son, all that took place over _three days_ .” she said, laughter finally abating. “They didn’t even clear the _horizon_ when they attacked that Fire Nation ship.” 

“ _Really?_ ” He said, his eyes turning back to his children who had identical expressions of guilt on their faces. “Then pray tell, what happened for the _rest_ of your journey?” 

“Peaceful meditation?” “Rest and Relaxation?” 

“HA!” Gran Gran said, trying to stifle the rest of her laughs for her own good. She was about to leave when she called out. “Ask them what happened with King Bumi!”

Hakoda gave his kids a raised eyebrow, under which they seemed to physically shrink. While he quite enjoyed his kids acting like, well, _kids_ , he sighed, and gently pushed them until they began sitting down.

“Alright kiddos, seems like we have a LOT to talk about...” 

**Author's Note:**

> This story is literally just "Hakoda reacts to his children's insanity" but with more words. I have more chapters but I'm not going to promise ANYTHING close to an update schedule.


End file.
